Archived: Everycare@Bellerophon House

Everycare@Bellerophon House is registered to provide personal care to people living in specialist 'extra care' housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single households in a shared site or building. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection only looked at people's personal care service.

Everycare@Bellerophon House provides rented accommodation in 41 flats. There is a communal lounge and dining area on the ground floor that people can use if they wish. At the time of our inspection, there were 15 people receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe with the staff. People were supported by enough and suitable staff who knew how to keep them safe from the risk of harm and abuse. People were supported safely with medicines. People were protected from the risk of infection. People’s accidents and incidents were recorded.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s healthcare associated risks were identified and assessed. Risk assessments included mitigating factors to ensure safe care. People’s needs were assessed before they received a service. People’s needs were met by staff who were well trained and received regular support and supervision. People’s dietary needs were met effectively.

People told us staff were caring and treated them with respect and dignity. People told us they were very happy with the service. People were involved in making decisions regarding their care. People were supported to remain as independent as possible.

Care records were up to date, person centred and comprehensive. People’s cultural and religious needs were respected when planning and delivering care. Discussions with the registered manager and staff showed they respected people’s sexual orientation so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people could feel accepted and welcomed in the service. The provider had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint.

People, relatives and staff told us the registered manager and senior staff were supportive. Staff told us they felt well supported by the service. The service had quality assurance processes in place. The service worked well with other organisations to improve people’s experiences.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good. (Report published on 6 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Bellerophon House is a social housing with care (HWC) scheme with 41 one or two bedroom flats. At the time of this inspection an on-site Domiciliary Care team provided by Everycare (Medway/Swale) Ltd delivered personal care to ten people. Everycare took over the care delivery from another provider in July 2016. Most people received less than ten hours care a week and remained independent in most aspects of their daily lives. Three of the people receiving personal care did not live alone. The Domiciliary Care team assisted people to maintain their health and wellbeing by helping them with personal care tasks or preparing meals. The accommodation was managed by a housing association. Each of the flats had its own lounge, kitchen and bathroom facilities and was fitted with emergency call facilities. For example, a lifeline telephone. A lift was available to take people between floors. There was a small communal lounge.

There was a registered manager employed at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice. The registered manager understood when the code of practice needed to be used so that decisions people made about their care or medical treatment were dealt with lawfully.

Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from harm. Risks were assessed and management plans implemented by staff to protect people from harm. Staff had received training about protecting people from abuse, based on the provider's policies. The management team had access to and understood the safeguarding policies of the local authority and followed the safeguarding processes.

There were policies and a procedure in place for the safe administration of medicines. Staff followed these policies and had been trained to administer medicines safely.

People had access to GPs and their health and wellbeing was supported by prompt referrals and access to medical care if they became unwell.

Staff provided friendly compassionate care and support. People were involved in how their care was planned and delivered. Staff knew people well and people had been asked about who they were and about their life experiences.

The registered manager planned people’s care by assessing their needs and then by asking people if they were happy with the care they received.

Staff upheld people’s right to choose who was involved in their care and people’s right to do things for themselves was respected. Community participation was encouraged and supported.

Incidents and accidents were recorded and checked by the registered manager to see what steps could be taken to prevent these happening again.

Individual and general risks in the service had been assessed and staff understood the actions they needed to take to minimise risk. Managers planned for emergencies, so that should they happen people’s care needs would continue to be met. Emergency life line and staff on call systems were in place.

Recruitment policies were in place. Safe recruitment practices had been followed before staff started working at the service. The registered manager employed enough staff to meet people’s assessed needs. Staffing levels were kept under constant review as people’s needs changed.

Staff supported people to maintain their health by ensuring people had enough to eat and drink.

People understood how to make a complaint if they needed to.

People told us that the service was well led. They told us that managers were approachable and listened to their views. The registered manager understood the balance they needed to achieve by providing and developing the best care packages for people, whilst recognising people’s autonomy, independence and lifestyle choices.